Thursday, November 11, 2010

Gluten-free does not have to mean flavor-free

Well, it was so nice today, I decided to eat lunch outside.Actually, there were 2 reasons I ate outside.1) it was nice out2) I was getting new tires on my car and I can't stand sitting in the waiting room smelling all that rubber. It's so offensive to my senses, it must be bad for you. I used to go to a bluegrass jam session in a bicycle shop back home, and it reeked so bad of rubber I thought my sinuses were going to burst into flames. I try to be aware of what I am exposing myself to. Which brings me back to my "picnic."

I had my little beach chair, a book, and my lunch.I've been gluten-free for a couple years now and I must confess that at first, I was not very creative with the whole gluten-free thing. I would get rice cakes, rice crackers, rice bread, and slap some hummus on them. I really like hummus, but nearly every day? Besides, that is awfully carb-heavy, all those crackers and breads. Lately, I've been making smoothies with fresh fruit, rice milk and wheatgrass powder. (even though it says "wheat"-grass, it is gluten free. confusing, but true). Packed with nutrients and fiber, and easy to digest.

Today, since I was "picnicking" I went back to hummus for the afternoon, because it is so portable. I brought some vegetable chips (beet chips, yam chips, carrot chips), a little hummus, and a couple dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), and some homemade iced green tea with stevia. Quite nice.

What book was I reading? How nice of you to ask. I'm reading The Superstress Solution, a really great book about minimizing/ undoing stressful habits, written by an MD. I checked it out from the library after getting booked for a gig where they want me to include a message about dealing with stress. I quickly realized I was fairly unqualified to talk about dealing with stress effectively! So I'm studying up. Since I have no wisdom of my own to share, I'll just read a bunch of books, add some humor, and pass along other people's wisdom.

Now what kind of tasty gluten free dinner shall I have?

-Carla Ulbrich, The Singing Patient, is a comical singer-songwriter and author of "How Can You *Not* Laugh at a Time Like This?: Reclaim Your Health with Humor, Creativity and Grit," coming out Feb. 1, 2011. www.thesingingpatient.com

About Me

"Lupus and Humor" is a blog by Carla Ulbrich (The Singing Patient). The purpose of the blog is to help others live healthier, happier lives by sharing what has helped/ not helped in Carla's 20+ years of having lupus (SLE).
Humor has been one of the things that has consistently been helpful, and is incorporated fairly regularly into the posts.